The New Joint, designed by the Montreal-based design firm Sceno Plus, receives national honor

Pollstar magazine selected The Joint as the Best New Major Concert Venue for 2009, announced Wednesday at the magazine's 21st annual awards ceremony. The category recognizes venues that are "setting new standards for the live music experience," a press release explained.

The $60 million Joint opened Ì¬ actually, reopened as a new venue with the same old name — April 17 with a sold-out performance by homegrown heroes The Killers. Since then, the 4,000-capacity venue has hosted a slew of high-profile concerts, including Paul McCartney, Morrissey and Blink 182, and booked legendary guitarist Carlos Santana in a residency gig, Supernatural Santana.

In a statement announcing their selection as Best New Major Concert Venue, Hard Rock Vice President of Entertainment Paul Davis referenced the Joint's upgrades, which included angling the main floor (to help those who are vertically challenged) and boosting the stage space. "We are so pleased to see that all of the thought and effort we put into the design of the venue has come to fruition," he said.

When the original Joint opened in 1995, it did not receive any Pollstar awards for that year. (It was, however, named 2001 Nightclub of the Year by the magazine.)